Hey all, Going to be making the move to Australia in about a month on a working holiday visa with the idea of something more permanent. Just looking for any advice really! I have 4/5 years experience in consultancy and in-house but I've never really had to go job hunting (luckily) so its a little daunting. I'm also not really tied to any city, but Sydney would be my preference.

So far I've got a decent list of firms/in-house places, is it acceptable to contact with CV/folio even if they aren't looking for an employee? Are recruitment agencies used? There seems to be a lot of short term contracts, is this normal? Has anyone had experience getting sponsorship?

Sydney and Melbourne are where nearly all of the ID jobs are located, so it's likely that you will be living in one of them. Jobs aren't always posted, so it's worth sending through a tentative CV and folio. Most design firms that post an ad seem to do it themselves, while most of the work found through recruitment companies seems to be packaging and retail displays.

I'd make a small note in it about your working holiday visa, as I'm quite sure that you are only allowed up to 6 months with any given employer.

Are you going for any specific industry?

I don't know where you are currently living, but it gets warm here in summer!

AndyMc wrote:Sydney and Melbourne are where nearly all of the ID jobs are located, so it's likely that you will be living in one of them. Jobs aren't always posted, so it's worth sending through a tentative CV and folio. Most design firms that post an ad seem to do it themselves, while most of the work found through recruitment companies seems to be packaging and retail displays.

Thanks for in info Andy, going to start looking about a month before I plan to start working.

AndyMc wrote:I'd make a small note in it about your working holiday visa, as I'm quite sure that you are only allowed up to 6 months with any given employer.

Yeah, I'll make sure it's very clear. I'm happy to work short term contracts but in the long run I'm looking for sponsorship to stay longer than 1 year and I really dont want to work on a farm for 3 months!

AndyMc wrote:Are you going for any specific industry?

I'm pretty open, currently in a consultancy so that would be ideal however I'm sure its a very competitive market. There are a few in-house places that align with my experience, so coffee equipment, gaming cabinets, industrial electronics, little bit of medical. Overall there are just a lot more opportunities for me in Australia.

AndyMc wrote:I don't know where you are currently living, but it gets warm here in summer!

Ireland..... a fun fact highest recorded temperature is 33.3°C so it should be interesting!

Looking at your folio I imagine places like Sunbeam and Breville would be good places to start. There's also a bunch of consultancies like D+I, Bluesky, Outerspace and so on. Given that you have a degree, you might be eligible for a professional visa when your current one ends.

33 is the average daily temp in Summer, I'm sure that you'll love it! You can only have the working visa once so make the most of it